I've committed a sin....

I'm a big Hockey Fan....and when I saw the fancy features to EA's NHL 09, I couldn't resist the urge to go buy it. Flashy graphics, new game play modes, redesigned HUD and interface....a very nice looking game. I have a recently built, Hi-Performance Gaming PC, so I figured I'd buy the PC version of the game. When I got home and installed the game, I came to the painful, agonizing realization that this game wasn't anything like the PS3 and XB360 versions. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite. I don't know if any of you have played any of these games, but fact is...there is nothing nice about this game at all. Everything about it is old, and no updates on graphics, skins, faces, anything....heck even the commentators voice-overs are the same!!

So, I decided to go to youtube and look up the game and see if possibly I got a corrupt version or accidentally grabbed nhl 06 by mistake. Low and behold, people online have said the same thing!! this game is nothing different than its previous versions...

So I'm thinking...is it false advertising since EA was labeling the nicer PS3 and XB360 versions the same as the PC version? If you look on the website, the trailers for the PC and console versions are the same. Since the game is drastically different for consoles, is this something that legal action can fix? I'm seriously considering emailing EA and complaining asking for my money back.

Stratics Veteran

I have been a huge fan of the NHL 09 series for quite some time now, dating back to NHL 2001. I was very impressed with it's overall game changes and features back then. But it seems to me, that within the last few years this game hasn't changed at all. The graphics are very old, and on top of that, the player skins and overall player reactions are simply ignored year after year. I had practically given up on the game after last years (NHL 08) installment, and decided EA had created a dead franchise.

I recently purchased NHL 09 with utmost excitement. I watched all the reviews I could both on YouTube and other sites around the web. I was fascinated by it's overall game-play and usability. It was this that made me decide to forget about my choice to stop playing this franchise.

I got home, and immediately I was disappointed. From the very first loading screen I was shocked and took notice that it was practically the same screen as NHL 08. This was just minor, however. I continued onto the main screen, and noticed that this screen looking nothing like the PS3 version of the game. Again, this was just a minor detail that I didn't mind. There were a few more, minor, barely noticable difference and similarities between the years previous games...most of which I don't really mind.

But once I got into the actual gameplay, and noticed how drastically different the game was compared to the console versions, I began to get very upset hence the reason for my email today. The gameplay is nothing like the console version, and moreover, it's exactly the same as NHL 08, NHL 07, and parts of NHL 06. Nothing has changed as far as gameplay, player interractions, player AI, commentator voice overs, player/coach skins. Most importantly, the game has none of the effects the console versions do.

Finally, I'd like to voice my harsh disatisfaction with this game. Overall it is very poorly put together. I feel I am being cheated by EA when they put out the same game year after year, with minor tweaks and changes. Nothing has impressed me in the past two years, and I feel that EA is making millions doing absolutely nothing but marketing the same product each season. I find it very very unfair that this game was marketed as being the newest and flashiest version in the NHL series, with many different aspects to the game, most of which made me buy the game in the first place. It also seems like false advertising, because this game (PC version) was marketed with the same trailers as the console versions, and furthermore are two comparably different games. I find none of the key features as advertised in the PC version of this game. I just may have to take some legal action just so I can get some sort of closure on the situation. I have a feeling any legal representative would jump at the bit. Please forward this on to your superior, as I'm sure I'm dealing with a customer service rep who has little, or no voice of opinion in this matter.

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